Julian Edelman was one of Tom Brady's favorite targets during his time with the New England Patriots. He also was one of his biggest fans.
Following Brady's retirement announcement on Tuesday, Edelman spoke highly of his longtime teammate on "Inside the NFL." The former Patriots wideout was asked to share what Brady means to him.
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"He means everything to me," Edelman said. "He's a huge part of my career. In 2010 I moved out to Los Angeles because I heard he used to throw with players. That year he called me once, and I left everything and I went to it. The next year he called me a couple more times, and I just wanted to be around him just to see what it took. That's the time I realized this man was built differently because we're in February, we're running 60 routes a day, then he's over here getting his body work.
"That's when I learned the aura of why this man is so special, so great. He never took a day off. He always had a purpose any time -- February, March, April, when we weren't with the team. He had a purpose any time he went onto the practice field to go and accomplish something. I took that and I tried to apply that to my career and it helped me, and it helps a lot of younger players when they get to see an ultimate professional. Not just an ultimate football (player), this guy's an ultimate professional."
Brady's unmatched competitive spirit left a mark on Edelman during their 11 years together in Foxboro.
"It's the same thing you think of when you think of Michael Jordan," he said. "It's that killer instinct. It's that addiction to competition. It's that addiction to literally trying to attain perfection, which a lot of guys talk about it, a lot of guys do it for a little bit of the time of the year. This man does it 24/7. He has his family time, but this guy is thinking, eating, drinking, breathing, spitting competition. 'How do I make myself better? How do I improve my body?' Whatever you're doing with him, he's competing.
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"We would go out and we used to play ping pong a bunch at (Danny) Amendola's house. A couple of times we brought it into the locker room and we put Tom on there. You know you're going to whoop him because he doesn't play as often as us, because we played a lot. We would sit there and he would play us for about an hour-and-a-half until he got close. He never beat us, but he wouldn't let us go without trying to win.
"That's the kind of guy he is. That's the kind of thing that separates him. This guy was on 24/7. His ability to compartmentalize when things outside of football were this or that or anything, he was always the same guy at work. That's what you need to see from a leader of your organization."
Edelman was one of many NFL figures to pay tribute to Brady on Tuesday. Patriots owner Robert Kraft also penned a heartfelt statement congratulating his former quarterback on a legendary career.